Pages

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Movie Review: Dredd

In the not too distant future, the United States of America
has been ravaged by nuclear war.A vast megalopolis
known as Mega-City One now encompasses the entire east coast.Due to its immense size and population
density, the massive city-stat is a veritable cesspool of crime.Instead of sitting on bench with a gavel,
Judges are given heavy artillery and charged with policing city streets.The most notorious of these is Judge Joseph
Dredd (Karl Urban), as relentless a lawman as has ever existed.

One day, Dredd is partnered with a young rookie named
Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby).The
two respond to a call in Peach Trees, a giant slum contained in a single 200
story high-rise.In the upper reaches of
the building, a vicious gang lord named Ma-Ma Lena Headley) commands an ever
expanding drug ring that distributes a narcotic known as “Slo-Mo.”She locks down Peach Trees and places a
bounty on the heads of the judges.Suddenly, both Dredd and Anderson are in the fight of their lives.

Dredd is an
adaptation of the 2000 AD comic strip
Judge Dredd.It is the second such attempt to bring that
property to the screen, the first being the execrable Stallone vehicle Judge Dredd.Thankfully, Dredd has no connection whatsoever to that debacle other than the source
material itself.It takes a different
approach to the material, offering something grittier and more stripped-down.It manages to be better and more entertaining
than expected, though nonetheless routine.

If the 1995 version of Judge
Dredd had two saving graces: The production and costume design.Mega-City One looked like Mega-City One, and
the judges looked like judges.Dredd is no slouch in this department
either, though the budgetary constraints are visible.The scope is much smaller, as the bulk of the
action is confined to a single location.Mega-City One looks similar like any other modern city aside from the
expected architectural exaggerations.Skyscrapers stand unrealistically tall.The aesthetic is also a bit grungier.Much of the activity inside Peach Trees takes place underneath minimal
lighting, but it is still discernible.

In terms of plot and setting, Dredd bares some striking similarities to The Raid: Redemption.However,
quite unlike The Raid, Dredd does not seek to raise the bar for
action choreography.Good guys and bad
guys alike wield some really cool hardware, but the execution is fairly
standard.The slow motion photography echoes
the “Bullet-time” technique popularized by The
Matrix, though a bit more stylized. There’s not a stitch of martial arts-style
fisticuffs to be found.What the film
lacks in fancy pugilism, it makes up for in brutality.As gruesome as some of the bloodletting is,
it never quiet reaches the “survival horror” grandeur of The Raid, but it still works.

The original Robocop
took more than a bit of inspiration from the Judge Dredd comic strip, particularly it’s ultra-violent and
satirical tone.Dredd is more than a bit reminiscent of Robocop.It’s surprising,
then, that the satirical elements of both properties somehow got lost in the
mix.There are the requisite jokes and
puns peppered throughout the dialogue, but that’s about it.There’s nothing in the way of actual
commentary, despite there being ample opportunities around every corner.That missing element could have added a few
much needed layers to this film.From a
story perspective, Dredd often feels very
episodic.It plays like the pilot for a
futuristic cop show.This is in keeping
with the adventure serial format of the weekly strip, but it also makes the
film feel a bit trite.

Karl Urban is a good a Judge Dredd as one can hope for.He’s one note and strictly business.His mouth and chin remain in a furrowed sneer
throughout the entire film, and his eyes remain hidden by the helmet.Just as in the strip, the audience never
really gets to “know” him.He represents
the ideals of the system he serves, nothing more.Olivia Thirlby does a lot with the bare bones
of a character she’s given.Her
compassion contrasts well with Dredd’s merciless nature, yet she never seems
less than capable in a firefight.The
character of Ma-Ma is perhaps the only real let down.Her ruthlessness is treated casually.She’s merely a figurehead.

Dredd is very much
like its main character: stoic, unflinching, and all about the job at hand.Its focus is narrow, and it’s single-minded
in its purpose.Had it aimed just a bit
higher, such qualities would play more as strengths than limitations.Missed opportunities aside, the film mostly fulfills
its agenda, which is more than can be said for many of the blockbusters
released so far this year.

About Me

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Scott Wilson, deep thinker and blogger extraordinaire. I'm also a published author and proud father. Last but certainly not least, I'm a single (IE Available), but I'm definitely looking to change that. My life is an ongoing work in progress, and I'm always looking to improve.